Plaster bandage machine



Oct. 1, 1946. J. R. mm

PLASTER BANDAGE MACHINE Filed Aug. 1. '1944 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 1, 1946 Jack`-R.'Pava, Santa Barbara, Calif., assigner of Y one-half to DouglasF. Pincock, SantaBarbara,

Application August 1, 1944, rifa-,rial N0."547,596

- `1 This invention 'erelatesjto 'machines yfor impregnating fabric bandagesv withplaster of'Paris or other drypowdered material.

Plaster bandages Yas'commonly supplied to the patient are in the form'ofrollswhich are impregnated with dry masten-"When used "these rolls are Vfirst immersed in water `and "thoroughly wetted. It is quite important-that Vthe bandage throughout its entire-areais wettedsothat the bandag-ing koperation may beperformed quickly withoutfthe necessity vof-wetting the bandage duri-ng lthe 'actual bar-idagirrg;operation. l"Various means #have been employed rfor impregnating the fabric,` usually crinoline, but those in common use haveproved unsatisfactory'for the reason that the vrol-ls of ibandageproduced, due touneven or too' great tension on-'the fabric or the character of application of the dry powder to the fabric suchas pulling ua "stripof fabric through a mass of 'pow'dered'materialg `are found to be unevenly impregnatedv with v the "powder and when wetted'fcontain dry spots o'portions which are not' observed until the bandage isbeing used. When-'suchunevenly wetted Strips of fabric are being used-the resultantbandage is unsatisfactory, and, although impractical, itjmay be attempted to vapply `lmoisture tothe strip during the bandaging operation.

It is an object of thisinvention j to produce a machine for producing rolls offabric bandage material of simpleform and-construction upon which -strips of bandaging material may `vbe evenly impregnated-with drjypowdere'd plaster of Paris or other desired'powderedmaterial and in which the rolls produced are loosely wound to permit an even wetting of the Amaterial throughout the roll.

Other .objects and advantages will 'appear hereinafter in the following description anthe drawing.

' Referringto the drawing, which is for illustrative purposes only: L

Fig. 1 is a-sectional elevational-view ofuajma chine embodying a form of the invention;

"Fig 2 is a perspective -^view looking V'down onv the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is anenlarged fragmentary plan View partly in section showing the manner of mounting one of the rollers;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan View of one end of the scraper blade and mounting of the blade on the arm;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view partly in section showing the loose end construction ofthe rods upon which the bandage is rolled; and

l'ig.V 6 is an enlarged sectional View of-one-of the roll. supporting brackets.

Referring more particularlyto the drawing, Iii designates `a 'container which in theV form shown is .an openiboxhaving 'abottoml l, fend wallslland I3, and sidewalls Ifand 15.]16-16 indicate brackets wl1ichare provided `with depending arrns 11 which fltover the upper edge of the end Wall l2. The brackets -Ii are leach providedwith a notch vf8 which receivesr alfs'haft or rod t9 `uponvvhichis lloosely'mounted -a roll of fabric such as gauze or crinolinaindicated at Eil. These brackets -I6-are independent -of each other and Amay be moved in theboxto -accommodate different widths of fabric.

Before the fabric 'is' threaded through the machine aY mass of loose plaster'o'f IPariser other material suitable for the purposes, indicated at 22 is Ypiled in one Verid Vof the container. The loose end E3 of the roll off fabric extends over the rounded upper ledge '$24 of the rend wall l2 of the container. "The fabric is then threaded downwardly under a guide'roller indicatedat 25 which is supported on arms2fpivotally mounted on a -pin or stud lindicated at 121 mounted 'iin brackets 28, 'there-` being one suchrbracketfor each end' ofthe roller secured "to the sidewalls of the container. This rollerf25 is of sufficient weight to hold the strifpofabric-down intocon' tact with the rounded lupper `surface of the' mass l of powder 2 2ir1 the container, it-being'understood that the vroller `is freely'pivoted on "the Vpins 21 so that as'the'powder isused upthe roller-will move downwardly andY keep the -fabric incont'a'ct with the powder. After passing under thef roller 25 the fabricy follows the contour of the 'upper facefvthemass' of powderan'd'is rheld 'in contact with the upper face or 'surface of the powder bymeans of a' follower roller indicated lat y3!) which is mounted on a frame 3l'which is loosely pivoted on the pin 21. r-This roller 30 is arranged at the poi'ntwhere'the fabric leaves lthe mass of powder fand only'bear's vdownwardly against the fabric with 'sufficient pressure to merely #hold v the 1fabric loosely in contact withy such loosepowder ras may fbe on the Afloor or bottom'of'the container.

During the passage of the fabric 'everthe'top of the mass of powder, the powder enters the interstices of the fabric and impregnates the fabric evenly with the desired amount of powder, it being understood that this fabric or gauze is loosely woven such as the crinoline above referred to. After passing under the roller 3l! there may be some small amount of powder on top of the fabric and to remove and save this excess powder I have provided a thin blade scraper indicated at 32. This scraper is pivotally mounted at its ends to a frame generally indicated at 337 this frame 33 being pivotally mounted on the side walls of the container by means of studs or pins 34 mounted in brackets 35. It is desirable that this scraper 32 should engage the top of the fabric as it passes thereunder very lightly and consequently the pivoted frame 33 is balanced by means of weights 33. The frame 33 may be of any desired construction but in the lform shown it consists of a pair of arms 31 on each side of the container joined by means of a strut indicated at 38. The impregnated fabric, after passing under the blade or scraper 32, is then mounted on a holder generally indicatedat 39. This holder consists of a plurality of rods indicated at 40, the free ends of which enter a rotatable disk 4l mounted on a bracket 42 on one side wall of the container. The other ends of the rods 40 are fixed in a spool 43 which is rotatably seated in a slot 44 formed in a bracket 45 secured to the opposite side wall of the container. 43 indicates a handle which is attached to the spool 43 so that the holder 39l may be rotated to wind the impregnated fabric loosely thereon. The spool 43 is yieldingly held in the slot 44 by means of curved plates 50 pivotally mounted in the bracket 45 at 5|. These plates are pressed .into contact with the spool by means of a spring 52.

From the above description of the apparatus it will be readily apparent that, the fabric merely being drawn over the mass of powder in the container and the rollers and 33 merely placing sufficient pressure on the fabric to hold it loosely in contact with the surface of the powder and the scraper 32 being balanced, very little pull is required to draw the fabric through the apparatus. This results in a comparatively loose winding of the impregnated fabric on the holder so that when the roll of impregnated fabric is removed from the apparatus and immersed in water the whole roll of fabric is uniformly moistened, which allows an uninterrupted bandaging operation which can only be properly performed when the impregnated fabric is unwound from the roll, as noted above, is uniformly wetted throughout. It will be understood that the impregnated roll on the holder 39 is removed from the apparatus merely by lifting the holder 39 by its handle 46 so that the spool 43 is released from the slot 44, and when completely disengaged While I have shown a particular form of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit the invention to the exact form of apparatus shown, but desire to cover such modification as may come within the spirit of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A machine for impregnating a fabric strip with a dry powder which comprises: a container; means for conducting a strip of fabric in yieldable contact with the upper surface of a mass of powder in the container; scraper means for removing excess powder from the surface of the strip of fabric; and means for forming a loose roll of the powder impregnated strip of fabric.

2. A machine for impregnating a fabric strip with a dry powder which comprises: a container;

means for supporting a roll of fabric on the container; means for conducting a strip of fabric from the roll downwardly in the container into contact with the mass of powder therein; means for yieldingly holding said fabric strip in engagement with the upper surface of the mass of powder; meansfor yieldingly drawing the strip of fabric over the surface of the mass of powder, scraper means for removing excess powder from the fabric; and means for forming a roll of the powder impregnated fabric.

3. A machine for impregnating a fabric strip with a dry powder which comprises: a container; means for supporting a roll of fabric on the container; a guide roller mounted in the container arranged to yieldably hold a strip of fabric from Y said rollvon a mass of powder in the container;

so that the rim of the spool 43 can pass over the bracket 45, the holder 39 is then permitted to be pulled so that the ends of the rods 40 come out of the disk 4I, thus completely disengaging the entire holder 33 with the roll of `impregnated fabric thereon from the apparatus, and the rods 4U being fixed in the spool 43 at one end collapse to some extent at their free ends and maybe easily withdrawn from the roll. In this connection it is understood that the spool 43 is wide enough to permit the withdrawal at a slight angle upward from the bracket;y 45 before the rods 4l) of the holder 39 are withdrawn from the rotable plate or disk 4 l.

a follower roller engageable with the strip of fabric as it leaves the mass of powder; a scraper engageable with the-upper face of the strip of fabric; weight means for balancing the scraper;

, and rotatable means for forming a loose roll of impregnated fabric.

4. A machine for impregnating a fabric strip with a dry powder which comprises: an open top container; means for supporting a roll of a strip of fabric on one end of the container; a guide roller pivotally mounted on said container engageable with the strip of fabric to yieldably hold the strip of fabric in contactwith the upper surface of a mass of powder in the container; a follower roller engageable with the strip of fabric as it leaves the mass of powder; said follower roller being pivotally mounted on the container; and a scraper pivotally mounted on the container yieldably engageable with the upper face of the strip of Vfabric to remove excess powder from the fabric strip; means for balancing the scraper; and

rotatable means detachably mounted on the container for forming a loose roll of the impregnated fabric. Y

5. In a plaster bandage forming machine, a

container having a portion adapted to support a mass of dry powder, means for conducting a strip of fabric over the top surface only of the mass of powder and yieldable means urging the strip downwardly into contact with the Said upper surface of the mass of material. y

JACK R. PAVA. 

